Railway track aligning device



Nov. 25, 1958 N. J. vrro ET AL 2,861,521

RAILWAY TRACK ALIGNING DEVICE Filed Oct. 29, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 JNVEN TORS.

August J. Ga/asso Nicholas J. Vi/o N. J. VITO ET AL RAILWAY TRACK ALIGNING DEVICE Nov. 25;, 1958 w .m mm MW W mm M 1 "w J 6 m t s w a J mm a r M 5 .m w W M w 9% A V. B 5 c. l, fi c 1 I a :5 M N i. 0 WM; g a M m 32%: a ll N [h:l\ Q. |}\\l||.[\ v M a 3 N t m 1953 N. J. VITO ETAL 2,861,521

RAILWAY TRACK ALIGNING DEVICE Filed Oct. 29, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Nicholas J. l/ifo August J Ga/assa INVENTORS.

United States Patent 2,861,521 RAILWAY TRACK ALIGNING DEVICE Nicholas J. Vito,Buflalo, and August J. Galasso,

' Lancaster, N.

This invention relates to a track liner and particularly to a self propelled vehicle for operating either on track or off track for aligning the rails of a railroad track; without obstruction to the man aligning the track either with or without an instrument and to give a nice even ride on the rails.

In the operation of railways, it is customary to provide a pair of rails and mount the rails on spaced apart cross-ties which are in turn cushioned in ballast to provide a firm even footing for the rails. In order to have the track in such condition that a smooth even ride can beobtained in the passage of railway trains thereover it is necessary that the rails be in a smooth even plane horizontally and that the rails also be aligned longitudinally so that there will be neither up nor down nor sidewise sways to coaches, cars or other vehicles traveling thereover.

Heretofore it has beencustomary for the track repair crews or section men to raise the tracks with track jacks under each rail. After which the defective ties are replaced and ballast tamped under the ties to maintain them in the desired elevated position. This operation disturbes the longitudinal alignment as well as lateral alignment of the track.

In order for the tracks to be in alignment to givea proper ride thereon, the rails not only must be lifted to the proper level but must be aligned longitudinally. Heretofore this has also been done by a crowbar-like arrangement with various section hands being on the bar so that the foreman or other person in charge of the group may sight along the rail and have it pushed to proper alignment.

The present invention provides a machine operable by one man to make the aligning operation heretofore accomplished by a crew of 12 to 16 persons.

' The construction according to the present invention comprises an elongated vehicular frame having support ing wheels mounted on the frame and elongated endless tracks entrained over the wheels and support rollers mounted along the track so that the device operates to lay the endless track and run thereon. The device is preferably of such size that it can be conveniently operated on the railway between the rails and so proportioned that, if desired, it may be moved laterally off the track by simply steering the device as is usual in caterpillertype treads. Fluid-type jacks are mounted at each corner of the frame and the jack members may be placed into the tie crib and fluid under pressure introduced into the jacks to lift the endless tracks off the ties or other portion of the road bed so that the rails may be aligned without interference by the weight of the machine. Hydraulic rams are mounted horizontally or substantially horizontallyin the machine and extend transversely therefrom and have end members adapted to engage the web of a-rail and each of the rams is individually controlled sothat the rail may be pushed at any desired amountso that the aligner-can readily determine the amount of ice be desired.

The device may also be used off the track, that is with the device mounted along side of the tracks so that the trainsvor other, vehicles on the railway may pass by withoutdisturbing the aligner in which case a ram will be provided with a push-pull hand so that the track may be either pushed or pulled as is necessary to get the proper alignment.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a track aligning machine. I

' A further object of the invention is to provide a track aligning machine which may be operated either on or off track.

A- still further object of the invention is to provide a track aligner having rams for controlling the sidewise displacement of the rails.

Other objects and many of the advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the track liner in position fon track;

FigureZ is a side elevation of the track liner in pro-. pelling position ontrac Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken substantially onv the plane indicated by the section line33 of Figure 2 and'showing the position of a pair of positioning rams; Figure 4 is an end. elevation of the track liner in ,op-. erating position on track; v

Figure 5 is an end elevation of the track liner in operating position off track; and,

Figure 6 is a detail showing the push-pull hand in. pulling position. V Q

In the exemplary embodiment according to the invention, a pair of railroad rails are mounted in rigidly spaced position by a plurality of spaced apart cross-ties 14. The

cross ties. 14 are embedded in ballast 16 so thatthe ties may be properly cradled to give a'firm foundation: tothe rails 10 and 12. I

-The track aliner comprises an elongated rigid frame member 20 having supporting wheels 22 and 24 thereon and arranged at the opposite ends of the platform 20. Spacer, members 26 will be placed in spaced intervals be tween the wheels 22 and 24 and top rollers 28 and bot- .tom rollers 30 will be placed on the spacer members and the endless track 32 will be mounted over the wheels 22 and 24 and supported intermediate the Wheels by means of the spaced apart rollers 28 and 30.

A propelling motor 34 will be mounted on the platform 20 .and will be connected to a differential housing 36 so that energy from the motor 34 may be distributed to the wheels supporting the tracks 32, as is well known.

Any desired arrangement for reversing thedirection of track or stopping the control of one track while the other advances may be utilized as these devices are well known in the art.

Fluid cylinders 40 are mounted adjacent each corner of the platform 20 and each of the cylinders 40is provided with a projecting piston 42 so that the pistons 42 may be projected into the tie crib so that the projection of, the pistons 42 will lift the platform 20 so that the longitudinal endless track 32 will be raised out of contact with the ties14 so that the track may be aligned without interference from the device.

A motor 44 is mounted on the platform 2% and drives a pair of fluid pumps 46 and 48 which obtain fluid such as oil from a. reservoir 50 and provide a sourceof fluidpistons may be extended the desired distance to firmly and rigidly support the platform 20 at a desired level position.

Vertical frame members or walls 52 are provided on.

fluid cylinders 58 and 60 with the cylinder s being oppo-- sitely disposed and each of the cylinders carrying a pro jecting piston 62 and 64 respectively. The pistons 62 and 64 are provided with hard rubber end pieces-66 for contacting with the web. 68 of the rails to be pushed.

Obviously", either of the pistons 62 and 64 may be pro-.

jected, as is desired, to push the rail to the desired extent.

The pistons 62 and 64: are located. substantially centrally of the frame 20 and if desired, a plurality of pairs of auxiliary pistons 70 and'72 may be provided on each side of the main aligning pistons and as many pairs of cylinders and pistons may be provided as are desirable.

For operating off track, the device is operated to move the platform 20 into parallel arrangement with the rails or 12 and the pistons 42 projected to raise the platform 20 to a level position along side the track. For operating an off track position, the device is provided with a plurality of cylinders 80 having piston rods 82 projecting therefrom with the piston rods 82 having a push-pull hand 84 mounted on the end thereof for engagement with the lower flange of the rail for either pushing or pulling the same, as may be desired.

In the operation of the device, the rail is raised to the proper level after which the machine will be driven under its own power to the desired position. either on track or folf track, as may be desired. The pistons 42 are then extended and driven into the crib due to the weight of the machine with the pistons 42 serving to prevent movement of the machine. If the device is on track the main pistons 58 and 60 will be substantially aligned with the apex of the bend to be straight after which the right or left hand piston will be projected, as is desired and any desired extent of lateral movement may be obtained to secure the necessary straightening of the track. If any secondary bends of the rails should appear, one ofthe auxiliary pistons or ramsmay' be advanced to straighten out this auxiliary bend.

In the operation of the device off track, the platform 20 'will be anchored and raised by the pistons 42 so that the piston 82 will pass into the tie crib, that is, the space between the normally spaced ties, and if a pulling operation is desired, the piston 82 will be projected into the crib so that it extends past the rail after which the platform will be raised to bring the hand into engagement with the flange of the rail after which the rail will be pulled toward the device. When the operation has been a pulling operation, the piston 82 will be extended after the pulling operation is completed after which the entire platform may be lowered so that the piston 82 and the hand 84 maybe retrieved from the tie crib. The hand 84 is reversed on the piston 82 when it is desired to perform a pushing operation if the hand 84 was last used for a pulling operation.

It will thus be apparent that the present invention provides a device which may be operated either on or off track and obviously may be self propelled so as to move off the track so that the trains may pass without the necessity of moving the device along the track to enter a switch or other turn out.

For simplicity of operation, each of the valves of each of the devices is provided with its own control so that the cylinders 58 and 60, 70 and 72 will be provided with control valves 90 while the cylinders 80, for the folf track operation, will be provided with control valves 92 and the hydraulic jacks will be provided with control valves 94.

A seat 96, for the operator, will be. placed, in addition to the control panels and control levers 98 and 100, will be positioned adjacent the control seat 96 for reversing the movement of the endless tracks so that the device may be turned and moved off the right of way, as may be desired.

For simplicity of illustration and description, a preferred embodiment of theinvention has been shown and described according tothe best present understanding e of the invention.

thereof. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes and modifications may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts thereof without departing from the true spirit and scope What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A railway track aligning device comprising an elongated rigid frame, endless tracks mounted on opposite sides of said frame in supporting relation to said frame for moving said frame along a roadbed, driving means mounted on said frame and operatively connected to said endless tracks, combined lifting and anchoring jacks rigidly mounted on said frame adjacent the cornersof said frame for vertically moving said frame and said endless tracks to completely lift said frame and said endless track off of the roadbed, an aligning ram mounted on and directly carried by said frame and extending transversely of said frame, said aligning ram being adapted to engage a rail at right angles to the longitudinal axis thereof.

2'. A railway track aligning device comprising an elongated rigid frame, endless tracks mounted on opposite sides of said frame in supporting relation to said frame for moving said frame along a roadbed, driving means.

3 mounted on said frame and operatively connected to said endless tracks, combined lifting and anchoring jacks.

rigidly mounted on said frame adjacent the corners of said frame for vertically moving said frame and said endless tracks to completely lift said frame and said endless track off of the roadbed, aligning rams mounted on and directly carried by said frame and extending trans versely of said frame, said aligning rams being adapted to engage a rail at right angles to the longitudinal axis thereof, said aligning rams beingdisposed in'crossed relation.

3. A railway track aligning device comprising an elon gated rigid frame, endless tracks mounted on opposite sides of said frame in supporting relation to said frame for moving said frame along a roadbed, driving means mounted on said frame and operatively connected to said endless tracks, combined lifting and anchoring jacks rigidly mounted on said frame adjacent the corners of said frame for vertically moving said frame and said endless tracks to completely lift said frame and said endless track off of the roadbed, an aligning ram mounted on and carried directly by said frame and extending transversely of said frame, said aligning ram being adapted to engage a rail at right angles to the longitudinal axis thereof, said aligning ram being mounted intermediate said combined lifting and anchoring jacks.

4. A railway track aligning device comprising an elongated rigid frame, endless tracks mounted on opposite sides of said frame in supporting relation to said frame for moving said frame along a roadbed, driving means mounted on said frame and operatively connected to said endless tracks, combined lifting and anchoring jacks rigidly-mounted on said frame adjacent the corners of said frame for vertically moving said frame and said endless tracks to completely lift said frame and said endless track olf of the roadbed, aligning rams mounted on and directly carried by said frame and extending transversely of said frame in oppositely outwardly directed relation, said aligning rams being adapted to engage av gagement with a railway rail whereby each of said rams.

may be used for selectively pushing and pulling railway track into alignment.

5. A railway track aligning device comprising an elongated rigid frame, endless tracks mounted on opposite sides of said frame in supporting relation to said frame for moving said frame along a roadbed, the distance between outermost parts of said endless tracks being less than the distance between rails whereby said railway track aligning device may move between the rails of the track to be aligned, driving means mounted on said frame and oppositely connected to said endless tracks, combined lifting and anchoring jack rigidly mounted on said frame adjacent to the corners of said frame for vertically moving said frame and said endless tracks to completely lift said frame and said endless tracks off of the roadbed, aligning rams mounted on and directly carried by said frame and extending transversely of said frame, said aligning rams being adapted to engage the rail at right angles to the longitudinal axis thereof, said aligning rams being disposed in crossed relation and being disposed intermediate said combined lifting and anchoring jacks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 978,858 Devitt Dec. 20, 1910 1,329,185 Kawashima Jan. 27, 1920 1,572,643 Falkner Feb. 9, 1926 1,622,970 Payne Mar. 29, 1927 1,784,963 Holt et a1 Dec. 16, 1930 1,939,480 Wilson Dec. 12, 1933 1,977,276 Holt et al. Oct. 16, 1934 2,693,769 Herlehy Nov. 9, 1954 2,736,268 Yohe Feb. 28, 1956 2,797,064 Abbott June 25, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 491,881 Germany Feb. 17, 1930 491,792 Germany Feb. 19, 1930 

